


Knock 'em Dead, Kid

by NocturnLily



Series: Assignment: Well [1]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Alcohol, Arson, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Closeted Character, Fire, Fraternization, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Multi, Original Character(s), Original Team Fortress Character(s), Sexism, but this is back in the good ol' days of the fandom, dusting off a lot of old stuff to make it coherent, i'll be adding more tags as relevant, when you couldn't cross lines without some form of punishment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:15:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22538407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NocturnLily/pseuds/NocturnLily
Summary: Well's got a new scout, a greenie. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, she gets dumped into arguably one of the most boring bases she coulda been posted to. Where better to prove her mettle? Show initiative and you can have your pick of bases; do poorly, and you'll have a lot more to lose than just your life.Welcome to the Industries. I hope you know what you're getting into.[rated for future chapters]
Relationships: Demoman/Scout (Team Fortress 2), Medic/Medic (Team Fortress 2), Medic/Sniper (Team Fortress 2), Scout/Scout (Team Fortress 2), Scout/Spy (Team Fortress 2)
Series: Assignment: Well [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1621711
Kudos: 3





	Knock 'em Dead, Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to ~~hell~~ Well.

The train that rattled along the tracks was spartan in its accommodations, and not at all comfortable for the three days spent looking out over _fucking nothing_.

A young woman occupied a seat as far back as she could manage, purposely setting herself as far as she could. What an odd choice, slapping on a single passenger car to a freighter. She wasn't the only passenger, though, as four others occupied the car. She was one of the lucky ones to land a corner seat, leaving the fifth to find somewhere in the middle. No one spoke, and that was perfectly fine by her; this gave her ample opportunity to watch them at her leisure, and she knew they watched her, too. Judging by the way she was sized up at the platform, they knew she was green. It earned her sympathetic smiles from some, and derisive dismissal from others.

Her personal effects, as much of her life as she could carry, shifted in the duffel bag next to her. A slender hand patted the lumpy thing idly, unsure how many more corn fields and flat desert she could stand to look at. She closed her eyes, head lolling back gently to ease a blooming headache. Her thoughts wandered back to home, to the worry clouding her mother's face concerning her daughter's newest venture.

••••

"You're more like your father than I realized," _she mused sadly. Fingers tightened around her coffee, the warmth of the ceramic giving her something to anchor to._

"Aww. C'mon, ma, don't be like that, you know it's good money—"

"So is Wellesley!" _There was a crack in her voice, and she fought to keep her lip from trembling too much._ "You got a good future there, you can get a good job and I don't have to worry about—"

" _Ma_..."

"I don't..." _A sigh._ "I'm glad you're findin' your way, I just wish... I don't want it to be _this_."

••••

Darkness overtook the cab and her head shot back up defensively, looking around wide-eyed. They were passing through a tunnel, but that didn't immediately ease the panicked spike of her heart rate. A hard inhale through the nostrils, a hard swallow, nails digging into her duffel bag; relax, you're _fine_. It took a beat or two more for nerves to settle, and she dragged fingertips over the thick material to soothe herself. _Relax_ , no one's gonna attack you here.

The darkness didn't last long, daylight exploding through the windows and making her sneeze. Buildings quickly came into view—weathered steel and brick, industrial windows, factory piping—and the train stopped just past a security gate next to the ruddy face of a warehouse. She collected her nerves and belongings and made her way to the compartment door, holding onto the railing as she swung down. Only one person stood waiting for her: a tall, gangly man cutting a sharp figure in an eggplant suit. Pale complexion, blond hair slicked back and a pair of spectacles perched on a hawkish nose. Green eyes, stern and analytical as he read over something on his clipboard, warmed considerably as the young woman approached.

"Lilian?"

"Yeah, how'ya doin'?" Lily rubbed a palm lightly over her shirt before offering it for a handshake. "Call me Lily."

"A pleasure," he hummed, returning the gesture. "I hear you're coming to us all the way from Boston?"

"Yessir."

"Of course you are." What was that supposed to mean? "If you'll follow me, please."

Lifting the warehouse grates, he introduced himself as Desmond, the administrative authority overseeing the entirety of Well and its operation. He explained that her contract tied her to RED's side of the base, and asked if she understood her duties as they were laid out when she signed the dotted line.

"Pretty sure." The interior of the warehouse was nothing she expected, and she gawked as they continued. "Got picked up for my athletics, and I was told I'd be training as a Scout class."

"That's correct. Your assessment was impressive, and you come recommended, which is—" He looked to the clipboard again, a wry smile pulling up a corner of his lips. "—interesting."

"Funny, that's what the lady said, too."

"Pauling? Yes, she has a knack for finding promising candidates. Given the circumstances, I hope you understand your performance will be judged... differently."

Ah, shit. "I had a feeling."

Desmond fiddled with a small console next to a door, unlocked it, and guided his charge upstairs to his office. The room was hot, but thankfully not stuffy. A window stood propped open, but there was nothing to be done about the sun beating down outside. A ceiling fan circled lazily above, providing an occasional hot drift of air instead that of the stagnant variety. The interior was plain: a desk that looked of sturdier material than standard fare, a blockade of filing cabinets against the wall behind the high-backed, stitched leather chair.

An A-shaped name plaque sat prettily at the front of the desk, the name _Desmond Graves / Administrator_ cut into the metal. He gestured for Lily to sit and, as she did, she tried to catch whatever it was flashing behind the frosted pane of the door to her left. She could hear the whirr and beep of automated systems, and the taller man looked from her to the door, and back again, before another smile worked its way slowly over his features.

"Surveillance—" he began, and Lily snapped her attention to him like a kid caught with a hand in the cookie jar. Oh, how he _loved_ catching fresh blood off guard. "—is required for a place this large. I can only be in so many places at once, after all. Remember that."

With that he placed the clipboard on the desk, thumbed open a folder, and they began combing through the clauses of her employment. Training was mandatory within the probationary period, spanning sixty days, the latter part of which would see her embroiled in the action. In that time, she was to learn as much as she could from her teammates and encourage personalities to blend. Camaraderie directly influenced success, and success determined her tenure on the team. Standard policy, she was told.

Desmond then locked eyes with his newest recruit and, for a moment, the air got a touch hotter. It was harder to breathe, and she didn't know why, then —

"Team loyalty," he began, slowly, "is tantamount within the confines of the Industries. It is _crucial_ that you avoid any undue... socialization."

He leaned back into his chair, then, steepling his fingers and watched her try to parse what he could possibly mean by that. When no question came, he continued.

"BLU is dedicated to your destruction. Don't give them any foot holds, give them no slack—they are your enemy for a reason." A pause. "They _all_ are."

She didn't like that implication, and swallowed the frown that was angrily tugging at her lips. For her efforts there was a cheshire shimmer in the glassy greens that stared her down, studied her. Studied the unspoken argument he knew she wanted to make. But she didn't. Good girl. Another slow, languid grin, and his hands split non-committally.

"But! I trust that's not anything we need to worry about." His demeanor warmed so quick her head threatened to spin. "You're just getting here! The weekend's just begun, which means plenty of homework for you."

Waiting for no response from her, Desmond rose from his chair and rounded the desk, offering a gentlemanly hand to guide her from the chair and out of the office. Lily took it, unease trying to latch itself into her gullet as they made their way to the base proper. The buildings a street's width behind the warehouse housed RED, and it was there he took her through the common areas. The mess hall, living hall, kitchen, medical wing—brief introductions were made with those who wandered about, but Desmond ushered their progress along in favour of the barracks proper.

The place was big enough to allow room assignments, and Desmond hovered in the doorway as Lily took in her surroundings. All the rooms looked dated; old plaster peeling from the walls, pipes running through and between rooms close to the ceiling, cement floors. If she had to guess, these were factory floors retrofitted to make accommodations, but that suited her fine. She couldn't expect the Four Seasons, as much as she wanted to. There was a standard cot tucked into the corner, with a small dresser and a footlocker. 

Resisting the urge to turn her nose up at everything she saw, Lily hefted her duffle bag onto the cot with a heavy 'whumpf' and offered a half smile to her administrator.

"So, I uh, I guess there's a place we can get toiletries and linens... stuff like that?"

"Yes, we usually have small storage closets scattered through the barracks. Laundry day is Thursday, we have contractors take our bulk sheets, but anything else can be tended to with the washers in the basement. Any _creature_ comforts will have to be ordered custom, unless you can bum something from your teammates."

Lily nodded, unzipping her bag and digging out her belongings. Desmond stayed a moment, watching her, before backing out.

"You've a check-in with your medic, Albrecht, in two hours. Try not to be late, he appreciates punctuality."

With that, she was left to herself and the overwhelming tide of emotion that rose alarmingly quick around her lungs. Lily sank into her cot, dragging her lone pillow towards her and locking it against her chest. Here she was. Here she really, actually was, two and a half thousand miles away from home in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere New Mexico away from everything she knew. It took a steadying breath and the search of an age-beaten stuffed rabbit to soothe the fluttering anxiety and, eventually, she was calm enough to unpack the rest of her things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a dig at myself cause, when I first made Lily, I just slapped her into the same city as canon Scout because why not lmao.
> 
>  _GOD_ , I miss my scoot. She's one of my longest-running OCs, and the first one I made for TF2. I honestly can't wait to dig into her again, big shout out to [Miishae](http://www.archiveofourown.org/users/Miishae) and [DocLeech](http://www.archiveofourown.org/users/DocLeech) for encouraging me to revisit fortress hell.


End file.
